West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-05-20
PLUcKING GEESE.

y All goods from foreign country |
must pass through the Custom
House. For example, if an Eng
lishman ships a blanket to citizen
of West Virginia, the blanket goes /
into a Custom House, and before it |
comes out It must pay tax (called
the taritf-tax) of 40 cents on each |
dollar of value. If the blanket be |
worth 81 the tax is 10 cents. This |
IS cents goes into the treasury and |
the consumer of the English blanket |
contributes 40 cents to the revenues [
of his government; he pays tax of
10 cents on the dollar for the privil .
eye of using a foreign made blanket.
\ tax of 10 cents on the dollar, is /
tax Of 10 dollars on each 800 of
value. Our State tax is 20 CENTS !
on the 800. A horse valued at |
500 pays tax of 20 CENTS. a
blanket valued at 500 pays 45 DOL
LARS. The tariff-tax on blankets is
225 times greater than our State
tax. What would a citizen of West |
Virginia say if he was taxed 40 dol
lars on 800 horse?
The French King was told by his .
Minister Of Finance that the science
of taxation consisted in the art of
plucking the goose without making
it cry.
The tariff tax is the most cunning
continuance ever invented by man.
This tax is included in the price
charged by a merchant, and by
means of this continuance money is
taken from a citizen and placed in
public treasury without his actually
seeing it's passage from his pocket
to the pocket of the tax collector.
But THE GOOSE Is PLUCKED NONE
THE LESS.
The goose would cry very loud if
every time man buys 4 blanket the
merchant should say:-'The price
is 81 90 and the tax is 40 cents" A
tax Of forty-fve cents on the 100
cents is bad enough, but it is some
consolation when the money goes
into the treasury. But suppose the
money, instead of going into the
treasury, is paid over to certain in
iividuals who are favored by the
laws. Suppose the law was this:
Whereas, Congress wishes to en-
rich blanket manufacturers, there
fore. be it enacted. that every man
who buys a dollar blanket shall pay
Is cents as 4 tax, and this tax shall
be handed over 70 the blanket man
ufacturer as a Gift, rs a subsidy, as
a bonus TO him.
This is the practical operation of
Il tariff for protection. The present
law. in effect, declares:
That the purpose of the tarif-taX
is. not to raise revenue, but, to in
crease the price of foreign made
articles so that they cannot come in
competition with similar articles
made here at home.
The object Of che tarih.taX is to
benefit the American manufacturer
10y compelling buyers to pay higher
prices than they would pay if for
cigu goods were not burdened with
the tax. The avowed object of the
present law is to tax one class for
the benefit Of the other class. When
81 citizen buys an English blanket
he pays 81 for the blanket and 40
cents into the treasury; but when he
buys an American blanket he pays
81 for the blanket and 40 cents as
bonus to the manufacturers The
purpose Of the tarifr-tax is to in
crease the price of what certain
manufactures sell. In other words,
one class. with influence enough to
shape legislation in its own inter
est, has procured a law, the avOwed
purpose Of which is to compel an
other class (and the much larger
class) to pay higher prices than